Administrative Team

Lori has worked in education for over 25 years. She began working at ArtSpace in 2003 as an Arts Integration Specialist, and has been the Executive Director since 2007. Lori holds a B.S. in Communications and an M.S. in Arts Education from Florida State University. Lori is a National Board Certified Teacher in Middle Childhood Education, and she holds NC teaching licenses in Art Education and Elementary Education. She has taught art to students ranging from pre-school through adult, and has also been an Elementary Teacher and an Academically Gifted Teacher.

Lori has been a Teaching Fellow with the NC A+ Schools Program since 1999, and in this role has traveled throughout the country presenting and instructing other educators on best practices in arts integrated learning. In addition to spending time with her family, she enjoys dance, art history, gardening, and soccer.

This is Ms. Hollis’ third year as K-4 Director and Testing Coordinator. She joined our staff in the 2009 school year, as a third grade teacher. Ms. Hollis was voted Teacher of the Year at ArtSpace in 2011. Before working at ArtSpace, Ms. Hollis taught with Asheville City Schools as well as in the Chicago area. Ms. Hollis holds a B.A. in Sociology from Tulane University, and her teaching licensure through Western Carolina University. Hollis loves hiking the mountains of Western North Carolina with her husband and two sons. She is an avid runner and will be completing her first half marathon this school year.

Elizabeth Russell holds a B.A. in Art and Pre-Med from Douglass College at Rutgers University and an M.A. in Art and Architectural History of the Middle Ages from Columbia University. She has thirty-plus years of experience in public and non-profit executive leadership. She has garnered further studies in Human Resource Management, Accounting, Real Estate Finance, Creating Public Markets for Public Spaces, Grant Writing. She has been a participant in Leadership Asheville for 14 years. Elizabeth has been a member of our administrative team since 2011. Elizabeth’s hobbies and interests include art, organic gardening, community building, and family. She also is a group fitness instructor.

Lucy SawyerDirector of Grades 5-8 and Exceptional Children Program DirectorArtspace Charter School

Lucy has worked in education for over 17 years. She holds a B.A. in English and American Literature and an M.Ed. in Special Education from the University of Tennessee. In addition, she holds North Carolina teaching licensure in Cross-Categorical K-12 and Middle School Mathematics. She enjoys spending time with her family, outdoor activities, reading, and science fiction shows.

Carol holds certificates as a Microsoft System Adiministrator, Analyzing and Troubleshooting TCP/IP Networks with Wireshark, as well as taken course work in Microsoft Active Directory, Powershell and most recently in Microsoft Server 2012 through AB Tech Community College. Carol has also been a member of North Carolina Education Technicians since 2014. She served as a Board Member from 2001 to 2003, and co-founded the ArtSpace parent organization in 2001. Ms. Carol has been an ArtSpace employee since 2003. Her personal interests include family, reading, baking, fishing, and of course technology.

Darlene holds an M.A. in Health Psychology from Appalachian State University. She joined ArtSpace as a parent and volunteer in 2001 and joined the front office staff in 2009. She is passionate about health and wellness and shares this with the ArtSpace community through the wellness committee and annual Health Fair. She coordinates the ArtSpace garden growing flowers, herbs, the occasional vegetable and cultivating a love of plants and fresh healthy food with students. She is also an herbalist and currently serves on the board of the North Carolina Herb Association.

Jane holds a B.S. in Business Education from Florida Southern College. She has been involved with ArtSpace from its inception, first as a volunteer. Jane has been on staff at the school since 2003. She enjoys reading, hiking, and music.

Beth has a BA in Art from University of California, Santa Cruz and a Masters in Library and Information Science from University of North Carolina, Greensboro. She has a long history of working in libraries, which began as a page shelving books in a public library during college over 20 years ago, and the last being in the Asheville-Buncombe Public Library as a children’s librarian. Beth has been an ArtSpace parent since 2013 and joined the ArtSpace staff in 2015. She enjoys reading, crafting, swimming, and spending time with her husband and three daughters.

Erin has taught 3rd and 4th grade at ArtSpace, working with the school since it’s inception in 2001. She earned a B.A. in Literature from Earlham College, an M.A.T. from the University of St. Thomas in Secondary Language Arts Education. Erin has also studied photography, printmaking and art history at Marshall University. She enjoys reading, fun conversations and laughing, cooking and eating good foods, photography and spending time with her family.

Michelle earned a Business Associate degree from Broward Community College with an added emphasis in psychology. She joined the ArtSpace staff in the fall of 2012 however she has been an ArtSpace parent since 2008. Michelle is a beekeeper, an avid gardener, loves to travel and spend time with her family.

Robin graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1983. She has been working in schools since 1999, beginning with the Charlotte Jewish Preschool, Shalom Preschool of Asheville, Claxton Elementary and finally landing at ArtSpace in 2007, as a member of the Board of Directors. After serving 3 years as an ArtSpace Board Member, Robin began working as a Teaching Assistant in 2011. She now serves as Volunteer and Community Partnerships Coordinator and is charged with daily operations of the new 2nd Act Thrift and Gift Store. Robin enjoys hiking, reading, being crafty and spending time with her wonderful family!

Thomas has worked in residential and commercial construction for 17 years and has experience in carpentry, electrical and plumbing. He studied at Haywood Community College and Western Carolina University. He enjoys fly tying, fly fishing, and walking through the woods with his children.

Lyn has been in education for 21 years. She began as an outdoor educator and naturalist. Lyn is one of the founding faculty members at ArtSpace, helping to get the school off the ground in 2001. She is a National Board Certified Teacher in Middle Childhood as well. She holds a B.S. in Biological Anthropology with a minor in Environmental Science from the University of California, San Diego, and a M.A. in Elementary Education from Spalding University. Lyn enjoys gardening hiking, and music. Lyn has two daughters. Lyn’s daughter Glory is a graduate of Artspace and is currently a senior at UNCW and Lyn’s daughter Grace is a freshman at Owen High.

Resources

Our Mission

ArtSpace Charter School offers a complete education, through an integrated curriculum centered around visual and performing arts, utilizing an experiential approach. We believe in a family-centered, cooperative approach to education that encourages parental involvement and community service in order to nurture responsible citizenship.